On What Frequencies Was General de Gaulle’s Appeal Broadcast ?

On the evening of 18 June 1940, from the BBC studios in London, General Charles de Gaulle delivered the appeal that would become the founding act of Free France. But who was actually able to hear it ? And, more importantly, on what frequencies was this historic message transmitted ? The question is more significant than it might seem.

In 1940, France had around five million radio receivers, but much of the country had already fallen under German occupation. Paris had fallen on 14 June. For many French listeners, tuning in to the BBC was already a risky undertaking and only if they happened to be listening on the right frequency.

The European Service : Reaching Occupied Europe

The appeal was first broadcast on the BBC’s European Service, the network intended for audiences across continental Europe. Since medium-wave signals travel farther after dark, two frequencies were used for the evening transmission:

* 371.1 metres (804 kHz), occupied during the day by The Forces Programme, the BBC’s service for British troops, and switched over to the European Service in the evening.

* 261.1 metres (1,149 kHz), a frequency used exclusively for evening broadcasts.

The European Service was also relayed on shortwave at 49.59 and 30.96 metres, allowing reception well beyond Western Europe, including the French colonies. It was through these transmissions that Radio Saigon the only French station known with certainty to have rebroadcast the appeal was able to relay de Gaulle’s message from French Indochina.

The Overseas Service : Speaking to the Empire

In 1940, France was also a global colonial empire. The BBC was fully aware of this and carried de Gaulle’s appeal on its Overseas Service, intended for audiences overseas, using four additional shortwave frequencies: 31.32, 25.53, 19.82, and 19.66 metres. These shortwave frequencies could be received across much of the world and were intended to reach North Africa, sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.

The objective was clear: to rally colonial governors, military forces, and civilian populations to the cause of Free France. In total, the Appeal of 18 June was broadcast on eight different wavelengths, covering both occupied Europe and the French colonial territories.

A Forgotten Broadcast, Four Days Earlier

The same frequencies had carried another broadcast that has largely faded from memory. On 14 June 1940 the very day German troops entered Paris Queen Elizabeth, the wife of King George VI and the future Queen Mother, addressed the women of France in French, also at 10 p.m. It was a message of solidarity and encouragement, transmitted over the same channels just four days before General de Gaulle’s appeal.

An Immediate Impact Difficult to Measure

The immediate impact of these broadcasts should, however, be viewed with some caution. First, the original Appeal of 18 June was not recorded that evening. The version familiar today is a re-recording made on 22 June 1940 at the BBC’s request. Secondly, Nazi Germany soon began jamming British broadcasts, although such interference was not yet systematic on 18 June itself.

The true significance of the Appeal was therefore not its immediate impact but its enduring symbolic power. Spread by word of mouth and reinforced by later broadcasts, it gradually became the founding story of Free France and one of the defining moments of the Second World War.